E. Williams

[Les Nessman]

EWill probably is playing harder in practice and is finally getting the idea of playing
hard everyday.  But what I see, is taking some minute from Jae who still makes dumb fouls
early in the game and is in trouble in the second half of games when MU really needs him.
He definitely has some talent, just needs some playing time.  I really believe Buzz made a
big mistake not giving him PT time in December.  I wonder what EWill is thinking?  I sit for
12 or 14 games, then he plays me?  One thing I do know is that is legs are very active.  All
I hope is that he comes back next year and gets some serious PT time.  I see Jae, EWill and
Wilson playing alot next year up front.  I would like to see Otule, EWill and Jae up front.

What about Ox? Another year of conditioning is going to make a huge difference. And we've already seen, he has great hands down low and knows how to use his body in the paint. He's going to be a monster next year.

[GGGG]

Yes, I realize that is why his playing time is limited, but I don't think that should translate into EWill only playing in 5 out of 16 Big East games thus far this season. He has only played in 2 more games than Frozena. How would 5-7 minutes a game to spell Butler and Crowder to keep them fresher in the 2nd half hurt MU?

I haven't seen a single instance this year of the team not being "fresh" down the stretch.  I simply think that a 10-11 rotation is very difficult so people are going to sit on the bench.

[BCHoopster]

What about Ox? Another year of conditioning is going to make a huge difference. And we've already seen, he has great hands down low and knows how to use his body in the paint. He's going to be a monster next year.

I do not think the Ox jumps well enough or moves his feet on D right now.  He might improve but I think
it will not be till his junior year that you see that big a difference.

[CTWarrior]

How about how he's been used the past 2 games as opposed to the previous 14 Big East games? I don't think his 7-10 minutes in the past two games have hurt the team. I think he could have been used more to give Butler and Crowder a rest so they are better able to finish games and MU doesn't melt down in the 2nd half because they basically run out of steam.

I will say this, though.  Against UConn we got off to terrible starts in both halves while EWill was in there.  Not necessarily his fault, but I found it interesting that we are going to go with this starting lineup that was terrible in both halves against UConn.  I'm all for spotting EWill for 5-10 mpg to keep Crowder out of foul trouble.

[NotAnAlum]

Ah yes, the downfall to the Louisville debacle was the 1 minute that EWill played, because he was the only one who missed a board and a layup. To recap some highlights of the boxscore of that gem:

DJO was 3-13
Otule 0-3 and had 1 rebound
Buycks had 5 turnovers
Crowder was 0-3 from the line

If I'm the coach I'll live with a loss because my starters (or said another way, my best players) don't execute.  Its much harder to live with loss if I, as a coach, left in a guy who wasn't ready to perform and lost in part due to him being on the floor.  E Will is not yet ready for Big Games in the Big East.  If you honestly watched his play (even yesterday) you can't help but see that.  Buzz's job is number one to win basketball games NOW.  There is a time to experiment but it is not in games which you expect to be decided by one or two possessions.  I would not change a thing with E. Will's playing time based on what I have seen.

[Norm]

If I'm the coach I'll live with a loss because my starters (or said another way, my best players) don't execute.  Its much harder to live with loss if I, as a coach, left in a guy who wasn't ready to perform and lost in part due to him being on the floor.  E Will is not yet ready for Big Games in the Big East.  If you honestly watched his play (even yesterday) you can't help but see that.  Buzz's job is number one to win basketball games NOW.  There is a time to experiment but it is not in games which you expect to be decided by one or two possessions.  I would not change a thing with E. Will's playing time based on what I have seen.

But that's the rub right there - Buzz allows his starters to make mistakes on the floor but yanks his backups seemingly every time they make a mistake out there. That, combined with having guys like EWill and Jones collect DNPs in 11 of the last 16 games, with just a minute or two in others, does not help them develop. So yes, Williams looked a little tentative out there yesterday and made mistakes, but he also scored 6 points on 3 of 5 shooting and snagged 5 rebounds, 3 on the offensive side. It's just my opinion, but I wish EWill got more time to help him develop and get more confidence.

[NotAnAlum]

Nearly every coach will tell you players "develop" much more in practice than in a game.  I really don't think you would have seen much different in E Will's game if he had been getting as much BE game minutes as we could bear given the fact that there is no way he would be as effective as the starters.  E Will's big chance will be next Non-con season.  I expect him to get plenty of game minutes to prove himself then.  If he learned the system and how to play team defense in the last 2 years of practice he'll earn the right to play during the non-con.  If not a few extra minutes this year wouldn't have mattered.